Currently, first-year chemistry students learn about three-dimensional molecular structures using a combination of lectures, tutorials, and practical hands-on experience with molecular chemistry kits. We have developed a basic 3D molecule construction simulation, called MolyPoly. The system was designed to augment the teaching of organic chemistry by helping students grasp the concepts of chemistry through visualisation in an immersive environment, 3D natural interaction, and audio lesson feedback. This paper presents the results of a pilot study conducted with a first-year chemistry class at the University of Tasmania. Participating students were split into two groups: MolyPoly group (no lecturer in the sessions) and traditional classroom group during the four in-semester classroom sessions over a period of two weeks. We present our comparative analyses over the knowledge-based pretest and posttest of the two groups, by discussing the overall improvement as well as investigating the improvement over the test questions with different knowledge difficulty levels and different required spatial knowledge.

Item Type:	Research Book Chapter
Keywords:	visuo-spatial reasoning and learning, organic chemistry, gesture control, immersive environment
Research Division:	Information and Computing Sciences
Research Group:	Library and information studies
Research Field:	Human information interaction and retrieval
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Teaching and curriculum
Objective Field:	Teaching and instruction technologies
UTAS Author:	Chinthammit, W (Dr Winyu Chinthammit)
UTAS Author:	Yoo, SJ (Miss Yoo)
UTAS Author:	Parker, C (Mr Callum Parker)
UTAS Author:	Turland, S (Dr Susan Turland)
UTAS Author:	Pedersen, S (Dr Scott Pedersen)
ID Code:	100203
Year Published:	2015
Deposited By:	Information and Communication Technology
Deposited On:	2015-05-07
Last Modified:	2018-03-28
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